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"|104-10216-10234 | 2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992 |

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1 July 1964
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD :
SUBJECT: Test of Open Sight Hood for 7.62u=m Belgium (PAL) Rifle
REVERENCE: A) Hemo for Red, dated 25 May 1944, Subject: PAL-
Silencers/Sights, from C/WH/SA/MOB/PX

noe, B) Wewo for Rcd. dated 10 June 1964, Subject: Tests
. of Hodified Sights for 7.62 Belgium (FAL) Rifie

Arad mo SECRET ALA #-/ |

1. On 15 and 16 June 1964, the undersigned and Mr, Bob
Ricker, T3D/SDB went to Isolation to test an open sight hood for
; the 7.62nm Belgium (FAL) Rifle developed in answer to Ref, A.
j The Modified Willians peep sight developed previously in answer
i to Ref. A and reported on in Ref. B. proved unsatisfactory to the
: | Fequester. The snap-on Sight hood was then @eveloped on a quick
. reaction basia to bo simpler to install and easier to use than
+ .,, - the Williars sight, In addition sca improved underloaded 7.62ma
: RATO rounds having e@oft. annealed Cases and creas of wheat fillor
.,. ¥Ore tested for performance, These vere developed in hopes of

the erretie sammnésion perhermance, poled Ja. Raf Pass aginpio

aoe 2, The open sight hood Snaps over the existing rear sight
“-)7:-@£ the PAL rifle, and in theory makes shooting in poor light or
° .8¢ Dight easier, It can be used with either standard fsatory
_-t.: + loads or the underloaded ammunition in conjunction with the muzzle
: . ‘attachment silencer, The notch on the rear Bight hood is "U" shaped
.. ., @pd raised to compensate for the nore curving trajectory of the low
~ .. Weloeity ammunition, The hood is easily detached making the con-
"7" Wentional peop eight evailable any time it ig desired. Se ee

°° 3, The attached data sheet Suemerizes the test results. It.
- 7) Was Lound that sore familiarization vag necessary to get used to
“-., _ thé open sight. Under ideal conditions the sight vas as eary to -

- USO as tho peep sight although it was more difficult to maintain 5

uniform vertical grouping. The relationship between the eye and

'. F@ar sight was found to be very critical. As the tests proceeded ~-

; & Change vas noted in the point of impact we. point of aim which was

: thought to be due to a change in sight picture on the part cf the

: undersigned, : "

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me 4. The improved amaunition was found to be quite consistant :
‘4M performance, The use of crean of wheat filler to tamp the powder --
: + Charge against the priner was aa attezpt to get mors even ignition =
busing, 5 With correspondingly improved accuracy, The expended cartridge
“tp. €8ge8 were checked periodically ané no evidence vas. founds of tha >.
’ #* " B0ft annealed cases not expanding properly, During the teste the 7
z % ; ¥Fifle and amwunition combination instilled a dogree of confidence
., 4p the undersigned not present in the previous teste.

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5. Tests were conducted in the evening to determine the degreo
of usefulness of the sight in poor light. In this respect a 22
Caliber Hi-Standard pistol with folding shoulder stock and Bushnell
1.3X Phantom scope was tested in comparison. The scope was
equipped with yellow filters to brighten the sight picture for
- low light level use, It was the opinion of both test personnel :
i-- +. 1. that the seope was superior to either the peep sight or open aight -_
: fos as long as their was some illumination on the silhoustte .
targets. Once the light fatled the scope was completely useless
although the undersigned could still discern targets with the naked
eye out to 50 yds, All actual shooting was done with the open
' sight and sone difficulty was experienced in hitting the targets
at ranges of 100 yds. or sore even at dusk. The closer tergets
could be easily hit up until 1t Lecass too darz to see them at all.
4 large rain cloud poving from behind the firing position gradually
. @bscured all available light. For the final shooting at 25 yds.
. OCcasional lightning flashes gave only a vague awarenese of the

target location. At no time during the night trials was there an
“puzzle flash visible fros the under loaded azsunition and wuzzle

Pammmmpnen sae tea ke
. . .
. .

. silencer combinatios. @ gas por was @ off position
e during the daylight trials was turned on at night but no flash was

visible at the breech. A fine white cloud of cream of wheat
powder was visible in front of the muzzle at alzost full darkness
- but could not be seen sore than 30 feet avay. .

6. Listener trials vere conducted the following day to deter-
wine bow far away an alert listener could discern the mechanical
‘poise of the mechanism and that or the round being fired. Mr. Ricker
walked away downwind at an sagle of 90 degrees to the line of fire
and stopped to listen every 25 paces. The unégersigned fired
Cate Single rounds, (hand actuating the nechanisw) each time Nr. Ricker
taney topped, At 325 paces, or roughly 278 yds., Er. Bicker reported. _..;,
f - “be could still hear the mechanisa being actuated, the round being.
_ fired, and the bullet striking a concrete pillar 200 yds. down-
_ , Fange. However, he stared that he might not have noticed the sound
, Ot that range had he not been listening for it specifically.

Been. etncceen erates Vre me are a ow,

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vw" © %, One of the zajor causes for concern at the start of the
“ - tests was that the crean of wheat filler night clog the silencer

. and render it ineffective. A total of 200 rounds were fired with
the silencer in plece and the noise level did seem to be higher at
, the finish of the second day. (Rouna numbers 180 to 200 were the.
one® expended during the provicusly pentioned listener trials).
Inspection of the silencer at a later date revealed considerable
> Cream of wheat residue in the screening. Sound level measurenents
. “ made in the AMF sound lab showed that while the total noise levei
'.": was po higher, the duration was relatively longer, This would :
. Make the silencer seen louder to near by observers but not increase —
the range at which it could be heard, However, from a etand- wo
" point of the ability for a listener to discrisinate a ailencer 3

being fired from randoa noise, the longer duration gives hina . a
better chance to recognize what he hears. :

os ’

< SECRET


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8. On 19 June 1964, the undersigned vent to the warehouse
at Franconia to try to fit the aight hood to other 7.65mm FAL
rifles. It was suspected that the fit might be a problem when it
a. Would not fit over the rear sights of three FAL rifles at Isolation.
Although it was later determined that the three gifles.vore of a.
different lot and say therefore have different tolerances on the *
rear sight casting, it was felt that further checking was necessary.
i _ Nine PAL rifles from the sane lot as those obtained by WH/SA/MOB/PH
were unpackaged and the sight hood tried on the rear sight. Of
the nine, two were perfect fits and the other seven too thick .
for the hood to fit, This created a problom in that the sight
hoods bad to fit rifles which for operational reasons could not be
measured before hand to determine the thickness of the rear sight
blade. Providing adjustzent in the slot of the eight hood would
have cosplicated the fixture to the point where it could becoze
operationally unsuitable. Therefore it was determined that the
best solution was to provide several small files with the hoods.
The peep sight on the rifles, 4 soft casting, was found to be
‘ ‘quite easy to file. In most cases it would be necessary only to
: file several thousandths to obtain a proper fit. This precedure
was explained to C/WH/SA/HOB/FM and he stated that it would be
acceptable, : : oo
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; oh Cc 9. On 24 Juno 1964, three open sight hoods with accessories
"ak [eo crmuen of two files and a suall screwdriver were turned over
t t

one

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F © C/WH/BA/KOB/PU. In addition, 400 rounds of improved under-
F we loaded ammunition with cream of wheat filler vere provided as a
|. - Z- -weplacezent for the original 400 underloaded rounds. +s
: a uot eee hee tie ee
shy aro) 10, On 29 June 1964, it was discovered that a scope vas availab]
f JE tor the 7.62ma Belgium (FAL) Rifle (Sniper Version) and in the Agency
: supply systen. Steps are being taken to obtain a scope for a
evaluation, The results will be forwarded to C/#H/SA/KOB. :

4.

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RANGE RAMP BETTING

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STANDARD VELOCITY AMMUNITION, DAYLIGHT:
4 POINT OF IMPACT

SIGHT TYPB - (RELATIVE TO poust oF zn

100 yds, No. 2 “peep =f’ On

100 yds. No, 3 Peap 06 (On

100 yds. Ko, 2 _ Open Bood 24" high

100 yda. No. 8 Open moot 26” high as
4

1 -@RLOADED AMMUNITION, OPEN SIGHT{BCOD, DAYLIGHT:
; POINT Of? IMPACT

RANGE RAMP BETTING (RELATING TO POINT of. am
23 yds. No. 2 3" high: ;
23 yds. Ko. 6 3" low |
$0 yds. No, 6 Oa ¥
75 yds. ho, 6 4" left; 4" low
100 yds, Full Elevation 6” left, 8" low

100 yds, Full Elevation Os (Dig¥. Shooter)

100 yx. Full Blevation 8" left, 8" low

123 yds, Ko 2 a" left, 18" low
125 yds, Full Blovatiog . On (Chgnged Bight Picture)

150 yds, }ull Blevation On (Caaaged Bight Picture)

. y ae
J yds, Pull Blevation 6” loe “(Changed Bight Pic- -- . 8"
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» UNDERLOADED AMMUNITION, OPEN sicut HGOD, pusity goo te 4
. RARGB KO. OF ROUNDS Os. OF HITS BORISDNTAL SPREAD VERTICAL SYRRAD REWARKS

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: UNDER'OADED AIDUNITION, ALMOST FULL DARK, OPEN SIGHT HOOD: oe.
! RANGE " -KO, OF ROUNDS KO, OF HITS” BOREZONTAL SPREAD SPREAD VERTICAL SPREAD - ean

~ 78 yda, 190 . ag - ob eo" _ Poop eigae useless 1.

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a , me “ .. 300 yds, with filtered.

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< sOERLOADED AMMUNITION, OPEN SIGHT ROOD, yuLd, DARK: 7
RANGE NO, OF ROUNDS KO. OF RITS " REuaRxs : £.
28 yds. 10 5 (scattered) Targot in total darkness, rain cloud overhes’, inter. “>
o tet .. m&Qtant lightning flashes gave a vague. avareness of
, i met ey Ss *areet location. _ . fo
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